Ice, found by NASA on Mercury.

[Cybran]

who cares about mercury?
who cares about mars?

is that where our money go to? finding ice deep in a hole on planets long confirmed dead? with no magnetic shield that blew away thier atmosphere long ago and so there is no water or oxigen?

better put this money into the right direction of finding us another planet and advance our space travel technolagy.

the moon is drifting away from us , without it , we are facing real harsh future if any...our magnetic shield has a hole in it..without it our fate will be like mars..

stop wasting time and money building probes and sending them to look for ice in our system...its pointless

With our current technology it's impossible to populate any other planet in a reasonable amount of time. It's like you are going to the Wright brothers and yelling at them for not having a Mach 1 plane yet... jeesh

[Deleted]

the moon is drifting away from us , without it , we are facing real harsh future if any...our magnetic shield has a hole in it..without it our fate will be like mars..

Yes, the moon is drifting away, at about the same rate that your finger nails grow each year....now explain what that has to do with the magnetic field generated from the Earths core?

[Bigbamboozal]

If they brought some of that ice back, it could be some interesting stuff, both for science and extreme auction value.
...could help pay for future research/

[john duo]

Yes, the moon is drifting away, at about the same rate that your finger nails grow each year....now explain what that has to do with the magnetic field generated from the Earths core?

without the moon , the earth will change its axis, the rotation speed of the earth will change , we will probably lose our seasons , most of our animals and plant life will be extinct - its a dire future , same as losing the magnetic field and allow the sun flares to blow away our athmosphere and we will end up like mars,

when facing such future even if it means 10Ks years away we need to start finding a way to travel in space fast enough and start finding another planet for us which ofc isnt in our solar system

[Sprinky]

We cant just give up researching our own solar system and shoot off outside our galaxy to focus our attention elsewhere. Therefore we are spending money researching our own backyard in a hope to discover something that will advance our technology enough to make further travel possible. Because of the amount of resources we use exiting Earths atmosphere we need to first establish a base somewhere else in space. If that place had water and potentially oxygen then we would be a huge step towards making it happen.

[Trunksee]

Ok im a bit of a sceptic when it comes to nasa. To me its the worlds biggest cover up. With all the advancements we have had we are still flying the same basic space shuttles for 40 years? We have better ways that the government does want us or anyone else in the world knowing about. Nasa got most of its funding cut because it was a gross misuse of taxpayers money. We are already able to travel to these planets imo safely, but the same tech could be used as a weapon of mass destruction so you just dont see it. You cant tell me its that easy to believe we have made giant leaps in technology but still fly the same giant pieces of crap.

[Kraenen]

So this means we're really just a colony seeded for mining gold until the reptilian aliens come to harvest us on december 21st?

[Elegiac]

without the moon , the earth will change its axis, the rotation speed of the earth will change , we will probably lose our seasons , most of our animals and plant life will be extinct - its a dire future , same as losing the magnetic field and allow the sun flares to blow away our athmosphere and we will end up like mars,

when facing such future even if it means 10Ks years away we need to start finding a way to travel in space fast enough and start finding another planet for us which ofc isnt in our solar system

1) A shift in axis will result in more extreme seasons, not a loss of them.

2) The rotation speed of the Earth is not contingent upon the moon.

3) The shift in climate will not be significant enough to cause mass extinctions on the scale of the K-T event.

4) The magnetic field is the result of the spinning of the Earth's core, and has nothing to do with the moon.

Christ.

[Anakso]

when facing such future even if it means 10Ks years away we need to start finding a way to travel in space fast enough and start finding another planet for us which ofc isnt in our solar system

Keep in mind: Nasa is doing both of those things. The problem is, they have a tiny budget. Much much smaller than it should be.
They're planning to send the probe messenger in for a closer look, that probe only exists because we built it. We're clearly working on space travel, but we aren't ready for what you're talking about yet. And with NASAs current budget it's going to be a long way off.

[Theodon]

without the moon , the earth will change its axis, the rotation speed of the earth will change , we will probably lose our seasons , most of our animals and plant life will be extinct - its a dire future , same as losing the magnetic field and allow the sun flares to blow away our athmosphere and we will end up like mars,

when facing such future even if it means 10Ks years away we need to start finding a way to travel in space fast enough and start finding another planet for us which ofc isnt in our solar system

Where on earth (no pun intended) are you getting your facts from?

[goombatommy]

We've sent out satellites already detecting other solar systems with very much "earth-like" qualities. I am probably going to get flamed for this, but I am going to say that there IS other life out there. Somewhere. Space being as endless as it is, in a place where time doesn't even exist, how the hell can we assume for one moment that we are the only life-forms out here? Whether it be intelligent or not so intelligent.

Figuring the technology is our niche so far, although I've been reading that if we were to do deep space exploring with humans aboard that nuclear technology would probably be the way to go. Also, the biggest issue is getting a human being to one of these planets and have it not take 80+ years to do so. Some say its so easy to just up, get a few astronauts together and launch them out into space, but its not that easy.

---------- Post added 2012-11-30 at 01:25 PM ----------

without the moon , the earth will change its axis, the rotation speed of the earth will change , we will probably lose our seasons , most of our animals and plant life will be extinct - its a dire future , same as losing the magnetic field and allow the sun flares to blow away our athmosphere and we will end up like mars,

when facing such future even if it means 10Ks years away we need to start finding a way to travel in space fast enough and start finding another planet for us which ofc isnt in our solar system

Uhh the moon has no effect on the Earth's rotation whatsoever. Like Didactic said its the spinning of the Earth's core.

[Black Cascade]

stop wasting time and money building probes and sending them to look for ice in our system...its pointless

Whereever we want to go in space, it helps if there is water already there. Saves us a lot of trouble and fuel.

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

without the moon , the earth will change its axis, the rotation speed of the earth will change , we will probably lose our seasons , most of our animals and plant life will be extinct - its a dire future , same as losing the magnetic field and allow the sun flares to blow away our athmosphere and we will end up like mars,

when facing such future even if it means 10Ks years away we need to start finding a way to travel in space fast enough and start finding another planet for us which ofc isnt in our solar system

By the time the moon is gone, the sun will have expanded to encompass the planet.

[Black Cascade]

You cant tell me its that easy to believe we have made giant leaps in technology but still fly the same giant pieces of crap.

Without adequate funding you are ensuring NASA is forced to keep flying in the "same gaint pieces of crap".

[Anjerith]

So this means we're really just a colony seeded for mining gold until the reptilian aliens come to harvest us on december 21st?

As I Suspected.

[Theodon]

Some small facts for the funding argument:

NASA took 0.53% of the USA's government funding in 2010.

NASA is responsible for things including satellites, satellite TV, and your GPS navigation systems being possible. From a medical standpoint, MRI’s and CAT scans, Dialysis, the modern breast cancer screening process, and the ear thermometer all resulted directly or indirectly from NASA programs and developments. Even simple conveniences such as improved tires, freeze-dried foods, scratch-resistant lenses, and cordless power tools can all be accredited to NASA.

People in America spend more on Pizza per year than NASA get for funding.

Most of the funding that goes to NASA ends up back in circulation through contracted work to fabricate parts for probes, for example.

[Anakso]

Without adequate funding you are ensuring NASA is forced to keep flying in the "same gaint pieces of crap".

One point in a long list of reasons why I think NASA should get more funding.
Much much much more funding!

Unfortunately I'm not even American so nothing I say, do or vote for can help that along.

EDIT: Other points can be found in the post above

[Belize]

who cares about mercury?
who cares about mars?

is that where our money go to? finding ice deep in a hole on planets long confirmed dead? with no magnetic shield that blew away thier atmosphere long ago and so there is no water or oxigen?

better put this money into the right direction of finding us another planet and advance our space travel technolagy.

the moon is drifting away from us , without it , we are facing real harsh future if any...our magnetic shield has a hole in it..without it our fate will be like mars..

stop wasting time and money building probes and sending them to look for ice in our system...its pointless

Ignorance much? Was sending people to the moon a waste of money too? Mars DOES have an atmosphere by the way, it's just very thin. We are already looking into terraforming other planets, we know it's possible. L2School.

[Itisamuh]

In our broken economy, people are really suggesting NASA needs more funding? Few things are a bigger waste of time, finances and resources, IMO.

[nnelson54]

Nice to find but really who cares? Is it really worth funding on a place we know is usless to us. Until we have a way to travel to these places is there any real point? Science is fun and all and i have no problem with private funding for stuff lkke this but ill bet is a waste of some governments funding.

America is fading as a world power and it is directly linked to the cut of our funding of NASA. Technology has ruled the world for almost a century now, and for 40 years we were inventing most of it, and engineering what we didn't invent to be better and almost all of it happened in NASA funded laboratories. The list of things NASA has engineered(or subcontracted private companies to engineer) that have been a boon to our economy and our way of life is extensive. In the 60s and 70s it was cool to want to grow up to be an Astronaut or Scientist or Engineer. But hubris is a terrible thing, and we've taken everything for granted. America is on the precipice of a scientific Dark Age the likes of which took over the Middle East in the 1000s(thanks to al-Ghazali) that they have never recovered from, and it's all thanks to thinking like this.

I'd also like to know how it's a "waste of some government funding" when 85% of the money(a figure given by Charles Bolden, the Administrator of NASA) given to NASA goes back into the economy in the form of outside contractors. And due to the incredibly list of things that NASA has given us(almost everything inside of a cell phone - just for example - was originally developed for NASA and later adapted for the private sector) the economy has, historically, received an $8 return for every 1$ we have funded NASA.